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Story:Star Trek - Infinity/Chapter 15
---- I stood in the shuttlebay hangar and watched as our modified shuttle was tractored in. The remains of Shuttlepod-A still hung loosely from the docking hatch, but the shuttlecraft itself was still in one piece. It slowly came to a halt and slid to the ground as the beam shut off. Chief Todd and I walked over to it, and began looking it over. Aside from the few spots where the Bioleech’s acid eaten through the nav board, the shuttle looked fine. Alyssa and I gazed at it for a moment, then the chief said, “I do believe this lady needs a new name now that she’s had her first flight; what do you think Destiny?” I rubbed my chin and thought for a moment. ‘The Wonder, perhaps? No. Reliant? No; already taken.’ I smiled. “What about, the Perseverance?” We looked at it again, and the chief nodded. “I like it. The USS Perseverance.” After painting its name on the side over the ‘Shuttlecraft-2’ and christening it, Chief Todd and I set to work on finishing the modifications to it. It wasn’t until Nicky brought us dinner that I realized we had been working for six hours straight. Nicky laughed. “With all the grease and paint you have on your uniform, one might think you were an engineering cadet.” At first I thought she was referring to the amount of time I’d spent working on the shuttle, but as I looked down, I saw that my originally red and gray command cadet’s uniform had streaks of black and orange running through it; I quite literally looked like an engineering cadet. I grabbed a rag and attempted to clean myself up, but soon realized that it permanently stained and gave up; I would have to get a new uniform from the replicator when I was finished. Chief Todd stepped into the cockpit--now technically a bridge now that it was a runabout--and glanced at Nicky. “A good pilot must know his--or her ship well. Learning a few things about the inner workings of a ship could be very useful to Destiny, or any pilot.” She spotted the tray that Nicky was holding. “But of course, a pilot’s foremost duty is to make sure he or she eats well.” And with that, she grabbed a chicken drumstick off the tray and headed back through the doors towards the engineering section. Nicky chuckled. “It’s hard to believe she’s only a little older than us.” We both laughed for a moment, and then Nicky said, “Well, I’ll leave you to finish your work, just make sure to come back before it gets late.” I nodded and Nicky left, leaving the tray on the pilot’s console. ---- When I looked up again at the tray, the food on it had grown cold and hard, and as I checked the time, I realized it was long past midnight. I snuck back to deck four and grabbed a quick shower. As I entered my quarters, I spotted Nicky sound asleep on the bed across from me. I was just about to lie down, when a pair of eyes peeked over the edge of the bed. “Where were you?” It was Phoebe. I replied, “I’m sorry, did I wake you?” Her eyes blinked. “No, I’ve been waiting for you. You know, you did tell Nicole that you’d be back before it got late.” I replied, “I lost track of time.” I could see her head wagging back and forth in the darkness. “You should take more care not to let that happen. Nicole’s starting to worry about you.” I glanced over at Nicky. “Why?” Phoebe replied, “She’s worried that you’re keeping your emotions about being trapped here all bottled up inside.” I responded, “I’m fine now.” Phoebe replied, “Does Nicky know that?” I glanced at Nicky again. “I suppose not.” Phoebe replied, “You might want to show her then.” Phoebe let out a yawn and her eyes disappeared, leaving me to myself again. I lay there for a moment. I had had no idea that Nicky had been worrying about me, although that could partly be attributed to the fact that I hadn’t seen her much since our time in the holodeck, which was also problematic. I decided then and there that I would make an effort over the next few days to spend some time with her, and with that decision made, I dropped off to sleep I awoke to the sounds of phaser shots, and leaped to my feet. As I peeked through the doorway and around the corner, I let out a sigh of relief as I realized the sounds were coming from the holodeck; the security cadets were training. I silently wished that I too could be off continuing my courses. Ever since Tabora had been killed, the amount of training I received was slow and random. I occasionally took lessons with Lt. P’Trell, or even Cmdr. Chekov when he wasn’t busy, but neither of them had the time to teach me on a regular basis. I slowly trudged off towards the sonic showers, and after I had changed into my uniform, I headed towards the shuttlebay. As I entered, my eyes lit up; Chief Todd had finished the modifications to the Perseverance. It glistened brightly in the soft glow of the ceiling lights; its bright blue color contrasting with the orange paint of the word ‘Perseverance’ written across the side; it was a work of art. I wished more than anything that I could fly it out into the openness of space, but the captain had forbidden it; the Bioleeches were still waiting just outside. The voice of Cmdr. Forrester came over the comlink. “Cadets Buccanan, Carver, Gro’kog, and Denarchia, report to the captain’s ready room.” I headed towards the turbolift, wondering what reason the commander could have for summoning me. As I stepped into the ready room I found Cmdr. Chekov, Lt. Cmdr. Forrester, and Lt. P’Trell waiting for me. As the three security cadets entered the room, Chekov spoke up. “Have a seat, cadets.” We complied, and he continued. “The Bioleeches have made it clear there is to be no compromise in this matter; they want our warp core, and will stop at nothing to obtain it. I am left with no choice but to disable their gravity-well generator, and their entire ship if need be. ‘Easier said than done.’ He continued, “Commander Forrester has come up with a solution to the problem.” He indicated towards the commander, and she stood up. “The Bioleech’s shields are configured differently from our own. Rather than resting 30 meters outside their ship like our own shields, their shields cling directly to the ship in order to conserve energy.” Cadet Buccanan spoke up, “How does that help us?” She glared at him and continued, “This kind of shielding is helpful to them in space combat, however, if we were to beam just outside their shields while wearing environmental suits, we could magnetize to their hull and breach it.” Denarchia cut in, “Wouldn’t they detect us before we could cut through?” The commander nodded. “Normally, yes. But I’ve been studying their ship closely, and have found a weak point.” She pointed towards the main monitor, and an image appeared. “At the rear of the Bioship, there are three exhaust ports where engine emissions are dumped. They rotate one by one in a clockwise manor. It takes approximately 47 seconds to complete one of these cycles, and that’s our window. Any questions?” Cadet Buccanan jumped in. “Wait, so what you’re saying, is that we have to cover sixty meters in 47 seconds, or we get fried?” Forrester nodded. “Correct. You have all taken zero-G training before, right?” One by one, we all nodded, and she said, “Then it should be no problem for you. Lt P’Trell and I will be taking point on this mission. Cadet Carver, if necessary, you will pilot us out using one of their ships if anything goes wrong with the mission. We’ll be beaming over in thirty minutes. Dismissed.” As we exited the room, Cadet Buccanan turned to the rest of us. “Is she trying to get us all killed?” Denarchia replied, “It’ll be easy.” Gro’kog added, “And fun.” Buccanan replied, “Easy for you to say; both of your species’ are designed for physical exertion.” I cut in, “Come on guys, we may not like her, but Commander Forrester is just trying to do what’s best for the crew; it’s her job to take risks for the greater good.” Cadet Buccanan didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t say anything else. We went our separate ways, Robert and Gro’kog headed for their quarters, and Denarchia and I headed for ours. After changing into our EV suits, we headed for Transporter Room-A, where we found P’Trell, Forrester, and Chief Todd waiting for us. Cmdr. Forrester turned to us. “Chief Todd will be keeping a transporter lock on us when we beam over. However, once we enter the Bioship’s shields, there will be no way for her to retrieve us until we disable their shield generator. If we are attacked, remember that not all the Bioleeches have ingested antideuterium yet; if the plasmatic deuterium beam doesn’t work, use a phaser that hasn’t been modified.” The four of us nodded, and we all stepped onto the transporter pad. Cmdr. Forrester turned to Chief Todd. “Energize…”